Shown Here:Introduced in Senate (02/09/1999)

Congressional Openness Act - Requires the Director of the Congressional Research Service (CRS) to make accessible to the public via a centralized electronic database all information available through the CRS web site that is not confidential nor the product of an individual, office, or committee research request, including all CRS issue briefs, reports, and authorization or appropriations products.

Requires the information to be made accessible between 30 and 40 days after it is first available to Members of Congress through the CRS web site.

Directs the Secretary of the Senate, through the Office of Public Records, to make the following information available on the Internet for purposes of access and retrieval by the public: (1) lobbyist disclosure reports, within 90 days (Saturdays, Sundays, holidays excepted) after they are received; and (2) gift rule disclosure reports, within five days (Saturdays, Sundays, holidays excepted) after they are received.

Requires the Superintendent of Documents, under the direction of the Public Printer in the Government Printing Office, to include information about such available documents in the electronic directory of Federal electronic information.

Requires public access to: (1) the CRS information through the websites maintained by members and committees of the Senate; and (2) the lobbyist and gift rule disclosure reports through the U.S. Senate website.

Makes the CRS Director responsible for maintaining, updating, and editing the information made available on the Internet under this Act.

Allows the Director to make such information available without the prior approval of specified congressional committees.

Expresses the sense of the Senate that each standing and special committee of the Senate and each Joint Committee of the Congress should provide access via the Internet to publicly available committee information, documents, and proceedings, including bills, reports, and transcripts of committee meetings that are open to the public.